Israel and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement (Paperback) | Released: 28 Jun 2017

This report provides information and analysis on a boycott, divestment, and sanctions ("BDS") movement against Israel. The BDS movement is generally seen as a loose grouping of actors from various countries who advocate or engage in economic measures against Israel or Israel-related individuals or organizations, though defining precisely what may or may not constitute BDS activity is subject to debate. The report also analyzes economic measures that "differentiate" or might be seen as differentiating between (1) Israel in general and (2) entities linked with Israeli-developed areas and settlements (whose legality is questioned under international law). Such settlements are found in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Golan Heights-areas that Israel has controlled and administered since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Debate is ongoing in the United States and elsewhere about whether economic differentiation (such as with regard to product labeling policies) between Israel proper and Israeli settlements constitutes a form of BDS. The report also discusses Anti-BDS or antidifferentiation efforts to date, including U.S. legislative action and proposals at the federal and state level. Legislative considerations arising from existing antiboycott law, First Amendment issues, and issues regarding congressional powers over commerce and foreign affairs. These considerations present a number of policy questions for Congress and the Trump Administration. For more information, see CRS Report RL33476, Israel: Background and U.S. Relations, by Jim Zanotti, also available in print at Amazon.com. The labeling of certain products imported from the West Bank is a subject with some connection to the debate regarding the BDS movement and economic differentiation. There appear to be some similarities between U.S. and European Union (EU) labeling laws and guidelines. Both jurisdictions call for the West Bank to be identified as the place of origin, but a November 2015 European Commission notice called for the labels for certain imports into the EU-Israel's largest trading partner-to provide additional information to EU consumers by further differentiating between products from Israeli settlements and from nonsettlement areas within the West Bank. This has fueled debate about whether the EU's guidelines might constitute, encourage, or foreshadow punitive economic measures against Israel. In 2015 and 2016, President Barack Obama signed trade and customs legislation (P.L. 114-26 and P.L. 114-125, respectively) that opposed BDS-related measures against Israel. However, the Administration asserted-including in a presidential signing statement for P.L. 114-125-that certain provisions in the legislation that sought to treat "Israeli-controlled territories" beyond 1949-1967 armistice lines (including West Bank settlements) in the same manner as Israel itself were not in line with U.S. policy. Some legislation proposed in the 115th Congress contains similarly controversial language. Participating in the BDS movement would not appear to place a U.S. organization in violation of existing federal antiboycott legislation, which targets organizations' participation in foreign boycotts. No foreign state has proclaimed that it participates in the BDS movement, and the movement does not have a secondary tier targeting companies that do business in or with Israel. If Members of Congress are inclined to propose legislation regarding BDS, they might consider using, as points of reference, legal and regulatory frameworks Congress and the executive branch have used to designate actors of concern under various rubrics having to do with trade and/or national security.